MIT Media Lab: A Logo with 40,000 Different Variations [Video]

Taking dynamic identities to the extreme, MIT Media Lab gets a fresh new logo, with no less than 40,000 variations.

The identity system was designed by Brooklyn-based Richard The. Here is an except explaining his reasoning behind the logo:

The logo is based on a visual system, an algorithm that produces a unique logo for each person, for faculty, staff and students. Each person can claim and own an individual shape and can use it on their business card a personal website. The design encompasses all collateral, business cards, letterhead, website, animations, signage etc. A custom web interface was developed to allow each person at the Media Lab to choose and claim an own individual logo for his/her business card, as well as a custom animation software which allows to create custom animations for any video content the lab produces.

I love it. Even better if the client had asked to see a few more variations…

Anonymous

My needle is stuck somewhere between ridiculous and sublime — much closer to ridiculous. It appears to be, as Massimo Vignelli warned against, a waste of energies and capital for the sake of novelty.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1011210217 Samantha Barnes

This feature would be more impressive to me if it came with a case study describing and explaining the branding system and guidelines that MIT will be using. I can’t fully love this because the practicality aspect isn’t represented here well enough. How were certain variations assigned to various departments, and then micro-leveled down to individuals? Do individuals have their own unique variation? How are these moving variations exported and available for full-use? It seems like MIT’s brand stewards would have to be completely trained on new software or exportation processes just to use their new brand (not that it couldn’t happen, but seems unrealistic.)

Kudos for being brilliant, but I just don’t understand this as a real-world application.